The Genistoids are one of the major radiations in the plant

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. Members of this phylogenetic clade are primarily found in the Southern hemisphere. Some genera are

pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; bird ...

by birds. The genistoid clade is consistently resolved as

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

in molecular phylogenetic analyses. It is estimated to have arisen 56.4 ± 0.2 million years ago (in the

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

). A node-based definition for the genistoids is: "the MRCA of '' Poecilanthe parviflora'' and ''

Lupinus argenteus ''Lupinus argenteus'' is a species of lupine known by the common name silvery lupine. It is native to much of western North America from the southwestern Canadian provinces to northernmost Mexico and as far east as the Great Plains. It grows in s ...

''." One morphological

synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel Phenotypic trait, character or character state that has evolution, evolved from its ancestral form (or Plesiomorphy and symplesiomorphy, plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy sh ...

has been tentatively identified: production of

quinolizidine Quinolizidine (norlupinane, octahydro-2''H''-quinolizine) is a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound. Some alkaloids (e.g. cytisine and sparteine) are derivatives of quinolizidine. Quinolizidine alkaloids Quinolizidine alkaloids, such as ...

alkaloids. Some genera also accumulate pyrrolizidine. A new genus, to be segregated from '' Clathrotropis'', has also been proposed to occupy an undetermined position within the genistoid clade.

Core Genistoids

The core genistoids, also known as the genistoids ''sensu stricto'', comprise most of the tribes of the genistoids ''sensu lato'', and are found mainly in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. This subclade is also consistently resolved as monophyletic. A node-based definition for the core genistoids is: "the MRCA of '' Bolusanthus speciosus'' and ''

Spartium junceum ''Spartium junceum'', known as Spanish broom, rush broom, or weaver's broom, it is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and the sole species in the genus ''Spartium''. It is closely related to the other brooms (in the genera '' Cy ...

''."

Systematics

Modern

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

suggest the following relationships:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18343763 Faboideae Plant unranked clades